Since 1960, the livestock industry has embraced the concept of genetic evaluation of livestock based on objective measures of economically important traits. This transition from purely subjective visual appraisal to genetic predictions based on objective measures began slowly, but today is routinely used for breeding stock in some species. Genetic evaluation has been accomplished in family owned breeding herds tied together for technology support by breed organizations that belong to federations that have provided guidelines for genetic evaluation. These breeding herds and their associations have demonstrated the desirability for making genetic change by selecting certain animals to use as parents of the next generation.
More recently, since 1980, the livestock industry and more particularly certain livestock species, have embraced the concept of value-based marketing of animals and their products. In a value-based marketing system, the pricing of livestock is based on the performance value of the livestock such that the livestock species in the industry can respond to current and future consumer demand. The value-based marketing system requires record keeping and data collection systems that include coverage of breeding stock, commercial stock, and actual product value at the processing level. A codified program based on a data collection system would allow for a fair comparison of an animal's performance with contemporary livestock groups tied together by sophisticated statistical analyses using entire data bases of livestock breeds.
Currently, codified performance programs are operating in the beef, dairy, swine, and sheep industries, but except for the dairy industry the majority of records involve only breeding stock, not commercial stock. Electronic identification devices and systems have provided a good method for merely providing identification of livestock for such codified performance programs. Typically, electronic identification systems utilize a passive electronic identification device which is induced to power up and transmit its identification signal by an externally radiating source. These passive electronic identification devices may be a transponder carried with the individual animal on a collar (for feeding systems) as illustrated and described in Carroll U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,481, issued Oct. 9, 1984, entitled "Identification System" and in Kuzara U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,353, issued Jul. 31, 1984, entitled "Animal Feeding and Monitoring System," or a transponder implanted in the animal as illustrated and described in Pollack U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,328, issued Aug. 8, 1989, entitled "Animal Monitoring Telltale and Information System" and in Hanton U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,632, issued Apr. 21, 1981, entitled "Electronic Livestock Identification System." Electronic identification devices have not, however, been widely accepted as a means for running a codified performance program at the field level on commercial livestock nor actual product value when processed. Due to the difficulty in collecting livestock performance records using current methods of electronic identification only, industry wide participation has not developed. Industry wide participation is awaiting a simple record delivery system.
There thus remains a need for a simple record keeping and delivery system for gathering performance information of the livestock species and for the manipulation and assimilation of that information into values on which to base a pricing mechanism for livestock and their products. The system must be capable of coordinating industry activity to create global consumer demand for healthful animal products that can be produced profitably. A simple high-technology information system that is easily used and adapted by the livestock industry, industry-wide participation in information gathering and processing, and industry-wide dissemination of values for use in pricing and decision making coupled with a central information collection and dissemination organization is therefore needed.